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In 1996, the early childhood curriculum for New Zealand was released. Until
the education reforms of the 1980s, education for the 'under-fives' and for
children of compulsory school aged children (5-16+ year olds) followed separate
paths. In the 1980s, the reforms of educational and social services provided an
opportunity for the development of a coherent and distinctive statement of
the aims and practices of the early childhood movement. This paper outlines
the process of development of this statement, describes the final outcome -Te
whariki: He whariki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa. Early childhood
curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1996) - and discusses the impact that it was
to have on both early childhood and compulsory education. The author argues
that this statement gave credibility to an already vibrant early childhood
movement and provided a model of an integrated curriculum that was to stand
tall against the trend towards more structured and prescriptive curriculum
documents.
Introduction
Curriculum development is seen as a weaving; the guidelines provide a
framework; each programme weaves its own pattern, each child his or her
own curriculum. (Carr & May, 1994: 25)
The arrival of Te whariki: He whariki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa. Early
Childhood Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1996) heralded an important step in the
recognition of education for the'under-fives'in New Zealand. Until this time, anything
that happened in early childhood centres was often seen as simply'care'or'play'and not
as serious education.The mandating of an official curriculum was to raise the status of
both institutions and workers in this field. The writing of the new curriculum was also to
bring together a very diverse sector and give all early childhood groups a common sense
of purpose and identity, yet preserve the unique contributions each group made to the
whole movement.
This paper sets the development of early childhood education in New Zealand in its
historical context, before outlining the development of this particular curriculum
document. A description of the main features of this curriculum for infants, toddlers and
young children is given and compared to the policy document that underpins the
compulsory schooling curriculum (the New Zealand Curriculum Framework, Ministry
of Education, 1993a). The author argues that the early childhood curriculum provides a
model of an integrated curriculum, whose developers were able to withstand the political
pressures of the time towards more stratified and prescriptive curricula. This has provided
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2 Citizenship, Social and Economics Education
an enduring platform for strengthening the quality of early childhood education in New
Zealand and a curriculum document that is gaining international acclaim.
policy, yet give concessions to each other in order to keep a strong alliance, led to some
of the contradictory directions curriculum policy was to take.
In a move that highlighted the importance of education to the country's economic
future, Prime Minister David Lange took over the Education portfolio. He set up a
taskforce to review educational administration. Named the 'Picot Report' after its
chairperson, it was to have a major impact on all that followed. Lange subsequently
released his policy document, Tomorrow's Schools (1988). Tomorrow's Schools devolved
to schools and their Boards of Trustees the power to make decisions on resources,
staffing and administration but control of the curriculum still belonged to central bodies
such as the Ministry of Education and the Education Review Office.
The forces opposing the new right, which the author (Mutch, 2000) calls the'liberal
left', were a fusion of earlier liberal progressive and more recent socially critical
perspectives. Education in the preceding decades had been under the influence of
humanist and liberal ideals which were exemplified by the following statement made in
1939 by Prime Minister Peter Fraser but written by his Director General of Education,
Clarence Beeby,
The Governments objective, broadly expressed, is that every person whatever
his level of academic ability, whether he be rich or poor, whether he live in
town or country, has a right as a citizen, to a free education for which he is
best fitted and to the fullest extent of his powers. (cited in Alcorn, 1999: 99)
The curriculum review of 1985 was still strongly in this mould. After wide consultation,
it proposed a curriculum which was presented in draft form in 1988 and stated:
Schools, parents, and other groups in a school's community can use the
curriculum framework to work together to develop policies and programmes
which focus on the learner, promote a sense of cultural identity, work towards
a fair share for all, provide a broad and balanced education, and encourage
openness and accountability. (Department of Education, 1988: 5)
This curriculum was never to be implemented. As new right ideology became
entrenched through the administrative reforms, the focus shifted to bringing the
curriculum in line with these views as can be seen in this statement in the next curriculum
discussion document:
It (the draft national curriculum) sets national directions for schooling which, I believe,
will assist young New Zealanders to achieve success and acquire the essential knowledge,
understanding and skills which will enable them to compete in the modern international
economy. (Ministry of Education, 1991: foreword)
Other related government policies were to further overpower the voices of the liberal
left, for example, the strength of the teaching unions was diminished as collective
bargaining was discouraged through the Employment Contracts Act. Policy Advisory
Groups were set up to provide advice to the government on curricular matters. The
policy advisory groups contained ministry officials and educators but also had strong
representation from business interests and new right political lobby groups. The
polarisation of political views was to dominate the 1990s. The government, Treasury,
business interests such as the Business Roundtable and conservative educational groups
(for example, the Independent Schools Council, the Principals Federation and the School
4 Citizenship, Social and Economics Education
Trustees Association) tended towards to the political right and most teachers and their
unions, and liberal educationalists towards the left.
In 1993, the New Zealand Curriculum Framework: Te anga marautanga o Aotearoa
(NZCF) was released. As discussed earlier, the first draft (Department of Education,
1988) showed the strong influence of earlier liberal-progressive views. In fact, it
reorganised the compulsory schooling curriculum into more integrated curriculum
areas as follows: culture and heritage; language; creative and aesthetic abilities;
mathematics; practical abilities; living in society; science, technology and the environment;
and health and wellbeing. The second draft (Ministry of Education, 1991) was more
strongly aligned to new right ideology with its emphasis on education for economic
growth and international competitiveness and, instead, organised the curriculum around
the four core areas of English, mathematics, science and technology. The final version
(Ministry of Education, 1993a) reached a compromise by acknowledging the recent
changes in society and the economy but making strong statements about equal
opportunities and success for all. The curriculum areas in the final version are outlined in
Figure 1.
administrative guidelines for early childhood centres were amended to take account of
this new curriculum.
Helen May, one of the writers, explains that the early childhood community had learned
to work together as a political unit (personal communication, April 6, 2000). An example
of this was the way that they combined forces and presented the Ministry with a single
proposal for the curriculum development contract. This proposal provided a full coverage
of all early childhood interest groups and on that basis was accepted. Although at an
early stage in the process there was some pressure from the Minister of Education to
align the early childhood curriculum to the school curriculum, this was resisted and the
development was able to proceed without outside interference. In retrospect, May
wonders if some critique from outside sources along the way might have sharpened
their thinking but she is justifiably proud of a curriculum that is now receiving international
acclaim.
That Te whariki is receiving international acclaim is supported by the Australian
academic, Marilyn Fleer (2003: 243) who states, 'Te Whariki has had an enormous
impact on curriculum development in many countries, including Australia'. Heer goes
on to cite Germany, Norway and Denmark as countries that have examined Te whariki
in depth when considering the development of their own early childhood curricula. It
has been translated into Danish and Danish academic, Stig Brostrom (2003: 238) says of
Te whariki, 'The document opens up new discussions and new ways to formulate
curriculum. Wherever existing curricula have researched and evaluated from the
perspective of Te Whariki new and fruitful discussions have been established.'
What is it about Te whariki that excites such interest? The next section outlines the
contents of the document before analysing how it differs from standard curricula, using
the New Zealand Curriculum Framework as a comparison.
NZCF Te whariki
Definition o f c u r r i c u l u m
• "The term curriculum has several meanings, • 'The term curriculum is used in this
depending on the context in which it is used. document to describe the sum total of the
• The New Zealand Curriculum experiences, activities, and events, whether
comprises a set of national curriculum direct or indirect, which occur within an
statements which define the learning environment designed to foster children's
principles and achievement aims and learning and development.'
objectives which all schools are required to • ' The curriculum is provided by people,
follow. places and things, in the child's
• The school curriculum consists of ways in environment: the adults, the other children,
which a school puts into practice the policy the physical environment and the
set out in the national curriculum statements. resources.'
It takes account of local needs, priorities, and
resources, and is designed in consultation
with the school's community.'
P u r p o s e s , aims and i n t e n t i o n s
'If we wish to progress as a nation, and to enjoy '... to grow up as confident learners and
a healthy prosperity in today's and tomorrow's communicators, healthy in mind, body and
competitive world economy, our education spirit, secure in their sense of belonging and in
system must adapt to meet these challenges ... the knowledge that they make a valued
It (the curriculum) provides a balance between contribution to society.'
the interests of individual students and the
requirements of society and the economy.'
The p r i n c i p l e s
NZCF establishes directions for learning and • empowerment- whakamana;
assessment; defines achievement objectives; • holistic development-kotahitanga;
provides flexibility; ensures coherent progress, • family and community-whanau tangata;
encourages independent and lifelong learners; • relationships-ttga hononga;
provides equal opportunities; recognises the
Treaty of Waitangi; reflects the multicultural
nature of NZ society; relates learning to the
wider world
Lessons to be learned
At a time when new right elements were taking a strong interest in educational
developments the early childhood community was able to come together with a united
vision and coherent voice and use their strength to lobby for recognition and the autonomy
to develop a curriculum to meet their needs. They were able to gain recognition as a
credible educational force to the point where 95% of New Zealand children now receive
some kind of early childhood education before entering compulsory schooling.
The integrated approach to education, as exemplified in Te whariki, once the norm in
New Zealand primary schools but which lost favour with the tightening of curriculum
requirements, has provided a model of how to stand tall against political trends. There is
now more cross-fertilisation of curriculum ideas between junior primary schools and
early childhood centres. In particular, the approach to assessment - children's learning
stories (Carr, 2001) - has challenged teachers' thinking in regular school settings by
offering a successful model of the holistic appraisal of children's achievements and next
learning steps. Research and curriculum development projects are currently evaluating
assessment practices and gathering exemplars for teacher development. It is a time of
excitement as the possibilities of alternative curriculum and assessment opportunities
are explored. It is a time of consolidation as the curriculum becomes embedded in
teachers' ways of working. It is also a time for reflection and evaluation as researchers
probe more deeply into teachers' negotiation of curriculum understanding and enactment
(see, for example, Carr et al., 2003; Nuttall, 2002,2003; and Ruth, 2003). Whatever the
critiques, the place of early childhood education as a quality educational experience, as
an area for academic debate and study, and as a recognised profession have been
strengthened by the development of Te whariki. All credit must be given to the early
childhood community, and, in particular, advocates such as Anne Meade, Helen May,
Margaret Carr, Tilly Reedy and Tamati Reedy for producing this alternative voice in
curriculum policy and implementation. As Heer (2003: 244) concludes:
Correspondence
Any c o r r e s p o n d e n c e should be directed to Carol Mutch (E-mail:
carol.mutch@cce.ac.nz), Associate Director, School of Professional Development,
Christchurch College of Education, PO Box 31-065, Christchurch 8030, New Zealand.
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